家鼠 (jiā shǔ) — domestic rat, house mouse

Definition

noun
domestic rathouse mouse
Measure word · 只
Easily confused

Examples

  • 家鼠。
    jiā shǔ Zài chú fáng lǐ zhǎo dào le shí wù.
    The house mouse found food in the kitchen.
  • 家鼠。
    Zhè zhī jiā shǔ de máo shì huī sè de.
    This domestic rat has gray fur.
  • 家鼠。
    Lǎo fáng zi lǐ yǒu hǎo jǐ zhī jiā shǔ.
    There are several house mice in the old house.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

家jiāhome
鼠shǔrat

The word combines 家 (home) and 鼠 (rat), naming a rat or mouse that lives in homes.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 鼠 pictures a rat: the upper part looks like an open mouth with teeth, while the lower part shows two feet on the left and a tail on the right.

Open 鼠 →

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